Container closure



Oct. 21, 1958 E. o. KRAEPELIN ,8 7, 8

CONTAINER CLOSURE Filed Dec. 1953- CONTAINER CLOSURE Edward O. Kraepelin, Los'Angeles, Calif.

Application December 1, 1953, Serial No. 395,344

1 Claim. (Cl. 215-37) a tendency to break, crumble or pulverize when loosely packed in containers which are subjected to movement incidental to handling and transportation. To prevent such breakage, crumbling or puuverization, it is usual to-place a packing in the upper part of the receptacle. A packing, so disposed, prevents movement of the elements in the container and thereby eliminates the danger of breakage, crumbling or pulverization.

Where such packing is separately inserted into the top of a container, difi'iculty may be encountered in removing the packing prior to removing one or more elements from the container. The time-consuming inconvenience of removing cotton from the upper part of a new bottle of pills, tablets or capsules is a matter of almost universal experience.

I have now found it possible to attach a packing immediately to a unitary closure for a container, whereby the receptacle is closed. Thus, the packing which holds the discrete elements immobilized within the receptacle may by completely removed with the closure without separate effort.

According to the invention a unitary closure is provided for the container, and the packing which immobilizes the units in the receptacle is attached immediately thereto. Thus, the packing is automatically removed from the receptacle when the cover is removed therefrom. Furthermore, by attaching the packing directly or immediately to the closure, there is but one point at which .the packing may be separated therefrom. By concentrating upon this single point of attachment, it is possible to make more certain of reliable action than would be the case where the packing is carried by a dependent sequence of successively attached units.

The invention is shown by way of illustration in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. l is a perspective view of a container for discrete elements having its closure screwed in place upon the receptacle, with a packing in place above the discrete elements;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a closure in the form of a cap or bottle top with a packing attached thereto;

Fig. 3 is a similar perspective view showing another attachment means provided upon a unitary closure;

Fig. 4 is a similar perspective view illustrating still. another attachment means with a packing carried thereby;

Figs. 5 and 6 are similar perspective views illustrating two different attachment means fixed to the unitary closure;

2,857,068 I Patented Oct. 21, 1958 Fig. 7 is a perspective view illustrating still'another form of unitary closure with a packing attached thereto;

Fig. 8 is a bottom view of a unitary closure according to the invention, the closure being constructedand arranged in still difierent manner for, attachment of a packing thereto; and h 1 i Fig. 9 is an elevation of the closure illustrated-'inFig. 8.

in the embodiment of the invention which is illustrated in Fig. 1, there is shown a container 10 comprising a receptacle 11 and a closure 12 therefor. I As here shown the receptacle 11 is a jaw formed of transparentmaterial wherein discrete elements 13 are contained. The top of the receptacle is threaded and the closure 12,'here illustrated, is correspondingly threaded in order to fit snugly over the top of the receptacle. Thus the closure 12 is formed to fasten upon the receptacle 11.

A packing 14 is shown inFig. 1 as filling the top'of the receptacle 11 to immobilize the elements 13 therein. According to the invention, the packing 14 is immediately attached to the inner surface of the closure 12 as by a.

drop of adhesive, solder, orthe like (not shown);

In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 2, the closure 12a is a threaded cap engagable with the threadedv open end of the receptacle 11 to'close it in well-known manner. The closure is perforated, as by parallel slits 15,

15, between which the materialof the closure is depressed as at 16, thereby deforming the closure to provide. means forattaching the packing 14 directly thereto. Thus, it

is merely necessary to draw a portion of the packing. 14 over the depressed portion 16 and entirely beneath the.

top of the cap in order to attach the packing 14 immedi ately to the cap. I The depressed portion 16 accordingly constitutes effectively attachment means positively fixed to the closure.

I The closure 12b-illustrated inFig. 3 issimilarly formed,-

except for the fact that the depressed portion of the closure 16a is not continuous. However, such depressed portion provides attachment means for the packing 14, in a manner which will be obvious. The portions of the closure 16a, like the depressed part 16 also constitute effectively attachment means positively fixed to the closure. A sufiicient thickness of the packing, wedged beneath the top of the cap 12b and between the depressed parts 16a, 16:! holds the packing14 securely attached to the closure.

In Figs. 4, 5, and 6 the closure is perforated to accommodate a strap, clip or the like for holding the packing to the closure. Thus, in Fig. 4 a perforation 17 is formed centrally of the closure 12c and a stirruplike strap 18 projects through the perforation 17, having its ends bent oppositely over the top of the closure and extending downwardly in a loop 18 through which the packing 14 is drawn. So far as screwingand unscrewing the closure 12c upon the receptacle 11 is concerned, or removing the closure from the receptacle, the strap 18 is positively fixed to the closure.

The embodiment illustrated in Fig. 5 employs, in place of the depressed material 16, a strap or clip 18a firmly fixed to the underside of the closure 12d. As here shown, the opposite ends of the strap or' clip 18a are held to the closure by means of pairs of parallel rectangular perforations 17a diametrically displaced from one another and positioned adjacent the rim of the closure. Each end of the strap 18a may thus project outwardly of the closure through one of a pair of perforations and inwardly of the closure through the adjacent perforation of the pair to hold the strap 18:: in place, thereby positively fixing the strap 18a to the closure. The packing 14 is then drawn through the space between the central portion of the strap 18a and the underside of the closure 12a in obvious manner.

In the embodiment. illustrated in Fig. 6, a clip 18b has 3 one end thereof positively fastened to the closure 12e by projecting through a-pair of perforations 17a in the manner already described inconnection with Fig. 5. The other end of the clip 18b is not supported but is bent toward the underside of the closure 126 against which it may rest; and the packing 14 maybe held by the clip 18b against the underside of'the closure 12c.

The closure 12; illustrated in Fig. 7 is formed of a sheet of suitable material centrally folded to provide a unitary handle 19. The final form of the closure is circular and, of course, requires separate attaching means tov hold it in place upon the rim of the receptacle with which it is designed to cooperate. In this embodiment a strap or clamp 18c is fixed beneath the closure12f by adhesive means or otherwise, and extends sufliciently away from the underside of the closure to provide a space through which the packing may be drawn as heretofore described. It isobvious that the clamp 18c may be fabricated of any suitable material and that the handle portion may be dispensed with.

Still a difierent embodiment of the invention is i1- lustrated in Figs. 8 and 9, wherein a closure 12g is formed somewhat similarly to the closure 12 illustrated in Fig. 7. The sheet material of which the cap or closure 12g is formed is suitably'slotted transversely, as at 20 so that two unitary handle portions 19a, 19a may extend upwardly from the closure 12g when in final form, while a central portion 21 is turned downwardly between the two unitary handle portions and is bowed into open position so that the packing 14 may be pulled through the loop so formed, to be held in place beneath the closure.

From the foregoing it will be evident that the invention provides a closure whereby packing inserted in a container for discrete particles may be removed with the closure of the container. The packing is attached directly or immediately to the closure from which it may be separated at but one point. In consequence, the possibilities of breakage and disturbance of the connection of the packing to the closure are not multiplied as is the case where a series oi connections, in dependent se- 4 r quence, is necessary in so attaching the packing. In all forms of the invention here illustrated, the construction is simple, easily formed and easily maintained.

- The forms of the invention here described and illustrated are presented merely as examples of how the invention may be applied. Other forms and embodiments of the invention, coming within the proper scope of the appended claims, will, of course, suggest themselves to those skilled in the art,

I claim:

A container for discreet elements comprising a receptacle having an opening therein, a unitary closure for seating over said opening, said closure comprising a circular disk formed from an elongated blank having semi-circular ends, said blank being gathered to form a medial transverse pleat, said pleat being severed transversely by a pair of spaced parallel slits, the portion between the slits being pressed downwardly to form a loop and the remaining portions of the pleat outwardly of the slits being pressed upwardly to form a handle thereon and packing pulled. through said loop depending in said container to hold immobile discreet articles therein.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,321,738 Gregg Nov. 11, 1919 1,492,422 Carter Apr. 29, 1924 1,634,806 Strand July 5, 1927 1,683,823 Heil Sept. 11, 1928 1,834,085 Bloom Dec. 1, 1931 1,985,615 Mitchell Dec. 25, 1934 2,091,212 McNeil Aug. 24, 1937 2,222,042 Nitardy Nov. 19, 1940 2,440,149 McGinnis Apr. 20, 1948 2,622,607 Carlson Dec. 23, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 646,451 Germany June 15, 1937 

